Battle of Baideng

{{Short description|Xiongnu Empire-China Empire battle}}

{{Infobox military conflict

| image = Battle of Baideng.jpg

| caption =

| conflict = Battle of Baideng

| partof = Xiongnu campaigns in China

| date = 200 BC

| place = Mount Baideng at Pincheng (present-day Datong, Shanxi)

| result = Xiongnu victory

| combatant1 = Xiongnu

| combatant2 = Han dynasty

| commander1 = Modu Chanyu

| commander2 = Emperor Gaozu

| strength1 = 400,000 (estimation){{cite book | last=Chang | first=Chun-shu | title=The Rise of the Chinese Empire, Volume 1: Nation, State, and Imperialism in Early China, ca. 1600 B.C. - A.D. 8 | year=2007 | publisher=University of Michigan Press | location=Ann Arbor | isbn=978-0-472-11533-4 | page=158 | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015068806333;view=1up;seq=190}}

| strength2 = 320,000

| casualties1 = Heavy{{cite web | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015068806333;view=1up;seq=190 | title=The rise of the Chinese Empire / Chun-shu Chang v.1. }}

| casualties2 = Less than Xiongnu{{cite web | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015068806333;view=1up;seq=190 | title=The rise of the Chinese Empire / Chun-shu Chang v.1. }}

}}

The Battle of Baideng (白登之戰) was a military conflict between Han China and the Xiongnu in 200 BC.

In an alternate account, GroussetRene Grousset, 'The Empire of the Steppes',1970/2008,page27, says that the Xiongnu invaded Chinese Shanxi and besieged Taiyuan. Gaozu broke the siege and chased the Xiongnu north, but was blockaded by them on the Baideng plateau near Datong in far northern Shanxi.

The presence of the armies is uncertain. The total strength of the Chinese army was over 300,000, but it is not known how much of the vanguard was trapped in the fort with the Emperor. Although Chinese historians write that the number of the Xiongnu army was 400,000.Chang, Chun-shu (2007).[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015068806333&view=1up&seq=190 The Rise of the Chinese Empire, Volume 1: Nation, State, and Imperialism in Early China, ca. 1600 B.C. - A.D. 8] Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p. 158.